EBENSBURG — Thanks to swift action by maintenance employees and first responders, a fire on the roof of the Bishop Carroll Catholic High School was quickly extinguished early Thursday morning.

At 6:20 a.m., Dauntless Fire Company firefighters were dispatched for a structure fire at the school in Ebensburg Borough, according to Ron Springer, the fire department’s safety officer.

They arrived on scene to find flames on the school’s exterior wall and moderate smoke coming from the source of the fire on the roof, he said.

Springer said firefighters were able to assess the situation and contain the fire within 10 minutes of arriving on scene.

The fire is being investigated by the state police fire marshal and Dauntless. Although no official cause was determined Thursday, Springer said the fire is believed to be accidental.

“It was confined to a roof area and a small area of an exterior wall. The fire did not gain access into the interior of the school. But the school did have some minor smoke throughout the one wing of the school,” Springer said.

Jonathan Nagy, Bishop Carroll’s dean of students, said the school operated on a two-hour delay and resumed normal operations at 10 a.m. Thursday.

Although the building was deemed safe for occupancy by officials, classrooms in the affected wing filled up with smoke, so the school’s administrators moved classes to another area of the building while the damage was still being assessed, Nagy said.

According to Nagy, the school’s maintenance employees noticed the smoke and flames and used fire extinguishers to suppress the fire until first responders arrived on the scene.

“It’s pretty remarkable between our maintenance staff and the first responders how wonderful that was and that they kept it contained,” Nagy said. “It’s basically in a closet. There’s very little internal damage to the school, mostly external. We started some remediation on the room.”

Dauntless was assisted by the Cambria Township, Revloc and Nanty Glo fire departments and the Ebensburg Area Ambulance Association, Springer said.

Nagy said school officials alerted staff members about the situation early Thursday morning and were thankful the fire was able to be contained.

“We’re very grateful for our first responders for their very quick action and keeping the fire contained,” Nagy said.

Mirror Staff Writer Matt Churella is at 814-946-7520.